Hiku Production Update 12

Dear Backers,

Hiku is into assembly now!

Cellular Assembly

Since components and the rest of the tooled and custom parts have been arriving from a variety of suppliers all over the globe, we started our cell assembly last week. Many people think about manufacturing and assembly as the stereotypical “assembly line” but in this case, it’s more efficient for us to be putting together subassemblies as parts arrive and go through inspection.

For those of you who aren’t aware of the difference between cell assembly and line assembly, basically a “cell” combines a group of logical processes so that portions of the finished product can be put together progressively without waiting for a batch of missing components to be completed. Whereas one missing part brings the whole line to a halt, we can have partial product assembled and arrange the work to match the availability of parts. It also keeps the people doing this work (it’s us right now, with some help) more engaged as their specific work varies over the course of the day - they aren’t doing the same thing each and every day. There is also a bigger sense of accomplishment because subassemblies are completed by the team - small milestones along the way to full completion.

So far, we have the inner assembly that houses the third bearing completed, as well as preparation of the incoming materials staged and ready. While we wait for the burr coating to be complete, the main enclosure parts go through final inspection and the handle assembly is put together (seven components comprise the handle). Finally, the main enclosure will be assembled as it requires the outer burr to be installed first.

Hiku Precision Machining

Since every update becomes instantly better with a picture, here’s one of the inner burr being made in the 5-axis CNC machine. Incredible precision.

Backer Surveys

The backer surveys will go out within the week. We look forward to receiving your specific details so we can print shipping labels, and plan and stage the shipments.

Delivery Schedule

We expect to hit the target of first units shipped before the end of July. That does mean that some will receive their Hiku at the very end of July, and others will receive it in August. We anticipate that the shipping of units will be spread over multiple weeks due to our need to be cautious with the final inspection processes and all the different carriers that needs to be used to get product out to 30 different countries.

Talk to you in two weeks!

Sincerely,

Amanda and team